Protective Covering for Bow Ends

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a protective covering for archery and hunting bow ends. The device comprises a padded, hollow housing which is rounded at one end and forms an opening at the other end, and is dimensioned to internally receive a cam wheel. The device also has two slit openings formed by unclosed side edges, in which the bow string and bow arm rest, creating added protection and stability for the bow end.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This application relates to protective coverings for the ends of archery and hunting bows, and their methods of use.

2. Background

The use of compound bows, stick bows, or crossbows is very popular with archers and hunters. These bows often utilize one or more cam or eccentric wheels, mounted at the ends of the bow on needle bushings or axles. The cam wheels generally protrude past the ends of the bow, making them highly susceptible to damage during the course of hunting and usage. Hunters frequently traverse rough terrain during their hunting excursions, often in poor weather conditions, subjecting unprotected bow ends to damage by dirt, leaves, sticks, rocks, water, snow, and many other natural elements. The damage caused by these elements is often severe enough to lead to poor bow performance, and, when something such as a chip in the cam wheel is involved, be quite expensive to repair.

Thus, there exists the need for an inexpensive, easy-to-use, light-weight, protective covering for the ends of archery and hunting bows.

The existing prior art fails to fully address this need. U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,621 provides for a padded, funnel-shaped protective device for the ends of bows, which can be attached in a manner to also create a bow sling. The funnel-shaped ends disclosed in the '621 patent are not well-fitted to the bow, leaving a gap between the bow and the protective coverings. The gaps permit the protective coverings to become snagged, entangled, or even pried off when carrying or picking the bow up from a resting position through areas of woods, underbrush, etc., which could create unwanted noise, inconvenience, and possibly damage to the bow or bow strings.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,912 attempts to solve this specific problem by providing for padded end covers which are cut and sewn in such a fashion that one length of the end cover is straight, to align with the bow string, and the opposite side of the cover is rounded, and then curved, to align with the cam wheel and attached resilient limb. Although the fitted end covers disclosed in the '912 patent solve the cumbersomeness of the funnel-shaped ends disclosed in the '621 patent, it creates a different problem. By its nature, the pads of the '912 patent are shaped so specifically to the bow that they must be turned the correct way in order to be placed on the bow. This seemingly small inconvenience can become an unwanted hassle when hunting, as being able to pack up and move from one spot to another quickly, with the least amount of noise and effort, is of utmost importance.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This application's objective is to overcome the above-described limitations, by providing an easy-to-use, snug-fitting, non-cumbersome protective covering for use on the ends of numerous bow types.

More specifically, the protective covering is rounded and closed at one end, closed along the majority of the length of the sides, and open at the opposite end, to permit placement of the end of a bow inside the protective covering. The top and bottom surfaces of the protective covering are fairly flat, although they do permit some expandability upon placing an item within the opening. The interior of the rounded end of the protective covering is designed to accept the rounded edge of a cam wheel. The sides of the protective covering are not closed for their entire length, but are left unclosed prior to reaching the open end. The unclosed part of the sides creates a slit like opening between the top and bottom surfaces in which a bow arm and strings fit when the protective covering is placed over a bow end.

The fitting of the bow arm and string into the slits greatly stabilizes the protective covering onto the bow end, preventing the protective covering from inadvertently falling or coming off the bow end. Although seating the bow arm and string into the slits provides greater stability, it is not a cumbersome task. In fact, installing the protective covering onto a bow end takes very little time and effort by the user. The protective covering easily slides over the bow end, into place, and the user is not burdened by having to determine which way the protective covering fits upon the bow end.

As an additional stabilization mechanism, one version of this invention requires the use of a strap with a fastening device attached to the top and bottom surfaces, and strung between the bow strings or bow arm and bow strings. Thus, the straps help to keep the protective covering from being forcibly dislodged from the bow end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and,

FIG. 2 illustrates the protective covering installed on a bow end.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this section, some preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail sufficient for one skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that the fact that a limited number of preferred embodiments are described herein does not in any way limit the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims to those particular embodiments.

As can be seen by reference to the drawings, in both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the numeral 10 generally references the protective covering, which is the subject of the instant application.

FIG. 1 demonstrates the preferred embodiment of the invention from a slightly elevated view directed toward the proximal, open end 13 of the protective covering 10. The protective covering has a fairly flat top surface 11, and a rounded distal end 12. The proximal, open end 13 permits the placement of a bow end between the padded interior 14 of the top surface 11 and the padded interior 14 of the fairly flat bottom surface 15. The preferred flared end pieces 18 can be seen extending beyond the main body of the protective covering 10.

FIG. 1 also demonstrates the preferred fastening mechanism, which has a middle strap 16 attached to the bottom surface 15, and which has attached to it a hook-and-loop fastener piece 17. A corresponding hook-and-loop fastener piece 17 is affixed to the top surface 11 of the protective covering 10. Wherein, when the protective covering 10 is placed over a bow end 26, as can be seen in FIG. 2, and the hook-and-loop fastener piece 17 on the middle strap 16 is placed over the corresponding hook-and-loop fastener piece 17 on the top surface 11, the protective covering 10 becomes secured on the bow end 26.

FIG. 2 also demonstrates the formation of the slits within the preferred flared end pieces 18, which transition from the closed side edges 19 to the unclosed front edges 22 forming the opening on the proximal, open end 13. The top and bottom surfaces 11, 15 of the flared end pieces 18 have unclosed side edges 20, which form slits. The unclosed side edges 19 forming slits preferably measure approximately 3 inches, beginning at the apex of the flared end pieces 18 and continuing toward the rounded distal end 12. It should be appreciated at this point that the flared end pieces 18 in conjunction with the unclosed side edges 19 forming slits create a secure location for bow string and bow arms to rest, helping to stabilize the protective covering 10 onto the bow end 26.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates that the exterior of the protective covering be comprised of a heavyweight, camouflage material. Additionally, a padding layer of polyfill is placed between the heavyweight, camouflage material and the interior lining, which is preferably comprised of a fleece material.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims. 

1. An device for protectively covering hunting or archery bow ends, comprising: a) a padded, hollow housing, with a top surface and a bottom surface, forming an opening and dimensioned to receive one end of a hunting or archery bow, said padded pouch housing having a proximal open end and a distal, generally rounded, closed end; said distal, generally rounded closed end being adapted to surrounding a cam wheel or pulley, and having less rounded, closed edge sections of said top and bottom surfaces emanating from the sides of said distal generally rounded closed end, and having unclosed side edge sections of said top and bottom surfaces running from said closed edge sections of said top and bottom surfaces toward said proximal, open end, said unclosed side edge sections of said top and bottom surfaces forming slits, permitting a bow arm or bow string to fit securely and transversely between said unclosed side edge sections of said top and bottom surfaces forming said slits, and at the terminus of said slits at said proximal open end, unclosed edges of said top and bottom surfaces form said opening.
 2. The device as in claim 1, wherein connecting straps are attached to said top and bottom surfaces, and are transverse to said unclosed edge of said top and bottom surfaces forming said opening on said proximal open end, said connecting straps having a means of attaching to each other, comprising a buckle and tab system, D-Ring system, tying mechanism, wherein said straps act to secure said instrument onto an end of a hunting or archery bow.
 3. The device as in claim 2, wherein one or both of said connecting straps is adjustable.
 4. The device as in claim 1, wherein a hook-and-loop fastener piece is attached to said top surface in a transverse orientation to said unclosed edges forming said opening on said proximal open end, and a strap with corresponding hook-and-loop fastener piece is attached to said bottom surface in a transverse orientation to said unclosed edges forming said opening on said proximal, open end, wherein the engagement of said hook-and-loop fastener pieces acts to secure the placement of said padded pouch housing upon a bow end.
 5. The device as in claim 1, wherein said top and bottom surfaces form flared end pieces, which extend beyond the main body of said padded, hollow housing, running along the length of said unclosed side edge sections which terminate at the apexes of said flared pieces, said unclosed front edges begin at said fared end pieces' apexes and continue toward one another to form said opening on said proximal, open end.
 6. The device as in claim 2, wherein said top and bottom surfaces form flared end pieces, which extend beyond the main body of said padded, hollow housing, running along the length of said unclosed side edge sections which terminate at the apexes of said flared pieces, said unclosed front edges begin at said fared end pieces' apexes and continue toward one another to form said opening on said proximal, open end.
 7. The device as in claim 3, wherein said top and bottom surfaces form flared end pieces, which extend beyond the main body of said padded, hollow housing, running along the length of said unclosed side edge sections which terminate at the apexes of said flared pieces, said unclosed front edges begin at said fared end pieces' apexes and continue toward one another to form said opening on said proximal, open end.
 8. The device as in claim 4, wherein said top and bottom surfaces form flared end pieces, which extend beyond the main body of said padded, hollow housing, running along the length of said unclosed side edge sections which terminate at the apexes of said flared pieces, said unclosed front edges begin at said fared end pieces' apexes and continue toward one another to form said opening on said proximal, open end. 